I never went to sleep-away camp when I was a kid. I didn’t like the idea of leaving my mom for that long. The Sunday morning of Camp Mighty is the closest experience that I have to what I imagine kids feel like at the end of summer camp. Saying goodbye to new friends you just made at breakfast as well as those you’ve come to love like family is bittersweet. We’ve made real connections and built on them by sharing the things that we want to accomplish. Now we take all of that creative energy and go back home to our respective cities, lives, and families and see what we can do with it.
The Ace Hotel & Swim Club itself is a magical place. The hotel FEELS like Southern California. All weekend I felt warm and relaxed, and when you take that mood and pair it with the type of supportive creative women that this retreat seems to draw you really have something amazing. I can’t imagine having this specific retreat anywhere else. It just works here.
I’m obsessed with the onsite diner, Kings Highway. Last year Sandra and I basically set up camp in there. It’s a great spot for creative brainstorming and figuring out how we’re going to tackle our Go Mighty goals. It’s awesome on Sunday morning too because so many people are in there saying goodbye and having breakfast that you always get to meet someone that you haven’t met yet. Last year I met Sheri.
There was a great roster of speakers this year. My favorites were Maggie‘s opening talk about goals, Anna Dorfman‘s alternative “no goals” approach, and the entrepreneur panel that included Rena Tom (less than $10,000 needed to reach her Kickstarter goal in six days – help if you can!) , Jihan Zencirli, and Helena Price. Side note: Jihan spoke last year, but I LOVED hearing her again. She’s so warm, engaging, and inspiring.
I missed the Too Small to Fail talk, but I heard some things about the initiative over the weekend. It seems like a great program to get involved in. There was enough downtime built in that I came home relaxed and inspired instead of overwhelmed and exhausted, which was great. When I got home I didn’t feel like I needed a vacation from my vacation.
And then it was time to go. A quick pit stop at Seward Johnson’s Forever Marilyn and we were on the road, back to LAX and eventually back to Seattle. It was awesome.